Evgeni Malkin questionnable hit on Nicklas Grossman.

[Bakanekimiwa]

ya know.. nhl.com even has it listed that grossmanN was elbowed in the head by Malkin. the longer time goes bye the angrier i'm getting about this hit. it was clear from the very first shift of gm1 that the penguins were targeting grossmanN. i mean... this just seems as intentional as it gets.

malkin is a dirty little bastard. he's very quick with his elbows and he's gotten away with it more than once, but why in the he ll is this not being looked at by the league. shanaban is a joke. the way these playoffs have been handled are a complete joke.

[OccamsRazor]

ya know.. nhl.com even has it listed that grossmanN was elbowed in the head by Malkin. the longer time goes bye the angrier i'm getting about this hit. it was clear from the very first shift of gm1 that the penguins were targeting grossmanN. i mean... this just seems as intentional as it gets.

malkin is a dirty little bastard. he's very quick with his elbows and he's gotten away with it more than once, but why in the he ll is this not being looked at by the league. shanaban is a joke. the way these playoffs have been handled are a complete joke.

That right there is my BEEF! You can tell he's leaning to landed it...

....that is why i predict they close it out tonight 6-3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And just move on...really the only reason i hate playing this team....the OBVIOUS favoritism.

Bad calls are going to happen...but with these guys...i'm not going over this again...peace out Bak going to play some BF3!!!!!!!

KaptnRich18 (Whyte_RiNo)

[Phillygrump]

devil's advocate: you mean like schenn did with asham?

I wonder how you would hit the ice had you been crosschecked in the neck?

Schenn didn't even fall naturally half as fast as Letang did when Read gave him a little shot to the hip.

Seriously aziz, why are you such a Penguins apologist?

[Phillygrump]

I know you weren't comparing the Letang and Schenn incidents, but to imply that Schenn went down from that stuff easy is a reach man.

[HagFlyFan 16]

I enjoy reading more than I post, so I'd like to know what some of you guys/gals think would have happened if Hossa was able to duck under Torri and had Torri possibly fly into the boards and been badly injured? Who's at fault?

[aziz]

Seriously aziz, why are you such a Penguins apologist?

i'm not a pen's appologist. believe me, i hate them more than anyone else. living in pittsburgh for junior and senior high as a flyers fan during the mario days will do that.

but

empty headed bias just really bothers me. people's ability to filter reality to fit their desired picture...or maybe it's their inability to see that they are filtering. i don't know. in anycase, i find it one of the saddest things around, and can't help but call people on it.

schenn took a stick high, and sold it in exactly the way that other guy said bothers him about the penguins. he threw his head back and collapsed to the ice for 5 minutes...but was back up and skating at full speed, none the worse for wear, 10 minutes after that. on the replay, the stick caught him across the chest and stuck under his shoulder pads as it was riding up. no contact with the throat, no real damage done. i'm sure it scared him, and i'm also sure it was him laying on the ice like he was dead that got asham ejected and suspended for 4 games. none of that bothers me, particularly. he was lucky that asham's reckless play didn't do damage, and schenn made a point of getting everyone to notice the dangerous play. still, to have that happen 1 game ago, and then cry about the penguins dropping after contact to draw ejections and then returning to play is embarrasing.

[LongTimeLurk]

HAHAHA...that was a clean hit. Not charging.

But you will also defend Malkinstien's dirty play too i'm sure.

Um... why would I do that? By your logic "Asham's stick didn't rise above Schenn's chest" = "it's okay for Malkin to lead with high elbows". What Malkin did was very much NOT okay, but it's also not related. My comment was strictly in response to your assertion that "kid got slammed in the throat"

You don't have to wear O&B Blinders to be a good fan.

[TedZep]

i'm not a pen's appologist

Man, I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that! That's some funny stuff right there.

[aziz]

@TedZep

ah, here comes king of the "i see what i want to see."

[sarsippius]

I enjoy reading more than I post, so I'd like to know what some of you guys/gals think would have happened if Hossa was able to duck under Torri and had Torri possibly fly into the boards and been badly injured? Who's at fault?

@HagFlyFan 16

In that case a Ranger got injured, I buy Hossa a beer!

In your scenario Hossa ducks, and assuming he didn't go all WWE flipping Torres over his back, I say no fault no penalties and no suspension

[TedZep]

The NHL can review questionable hits even without a penalty called. They "reviewed" Neal's assault on Couturier. Why no mention of this particular elbow? (Obviously it's a rhetorical question.)

[flyerrod]

My comment was strictly in response to your assertion that "kid got slammed in the throat"

The Highlighted text quote is a great tool to prevent misunderstanding and pinpoint where responses are directed.....

[Phillygrump]

empty headed bias just really bothers me. people's ability to filter reality to fit their desired picture...or maybe it's their inability to see that they are filtering. i don't know. in anycase, i find it one of the saddest things around, and can't help but call people on it.

I can understand that, but a lot of times you come off as overcompensating for the bias talk. Lets be honest. Its no secret that sports superstars get special treatment in just about every league. Thats bias.

[aziz]

Lets be honest. Its no secret that sports superstars get special treatment in just about every league. Thats bias.

absolutely. and that includes jagr and giroux and all other superstars. and it is a systemic bias that comes from the league and how they want to build and promote their product. they do not care is a 3rd line plumber plays in the next game, because the 3rd line plumber is infinitely replaceable and does not put butts in seats. superstars do. it isn't a great thing, but it's an understandable thing, and one that no one here has anything to do with.

bias on a message board by homer fans is a completely different thing. looking at two identicle situations, where the only difference is the color of the jerseys, and seeing two uttely different things is a sad but very obvious bit of psychology. again, the guy who cries about penguins embelishing contact to have flyers ejected one game after schenn appeared to die in the middle of a game but rose again 3 days, er, shifts later.... "that was a legit injury," he says. yeah. his crushed larynx healed in 10 minutes.

[OH1FlyersFan]

the stick caught him across the chest and stuck under his shoulder pads as it was riding up. no contact with the throat, no real damage done.

You know what actually bothered me more about this incident than the stick to the chest, was actually the way Asham went after Schenn when he was lying face down on the ice. The punch to the head and what looked like an attempt to slam/push his head down into the ice when he was in a vulnerable and unprotected position. That's what really pissed me off. Not so much the check.

[flyerrod]

the guy who cries about penguins embelishing contact to have flyers ejected one game after schenn appeared to die in the middle of a game but rose again 3 days, er, shifts later.... "that was a legit injury," he says. yeah. his crushed larynx healed in 10 minutes.

The only viable response I have to this is... "Letang".....Yes Schenn embellished but that is probably the very thing that kept him from a more serious injury at that point. Some of the Pens have turned embellishment into an art form, not all of them mind you but Letang,Cooke,Malkin,Orpick,and Crosby certainly have. If the officials are going to buy into the soccer penalty, what choice do Flyers have other than adjust to get the same calls?

[aziz]

Some of the Pens have turned embellishment into an art form, not all of them mind you but Letang,Cooke,Malkin,Orpick,and Crosby certainly have. If the officials are going to buy into the soccer penalty, what choice do Flyers have other than adjust to get the same calls?

that's a problem rampant around the league. it isn't a problem that has to be navigated specifically by the flyers against the pens. carcillo was world freaking class at that stuff.

again, i agree that it is a problem, and some players are guiltier than others. i don't know you can divide it down to this team does it versus that team doesn't. i don't know of any flyers at the moment that have particularly dirty hands on that front, but they've had their share. i don't remember a ton of outrage when carcillo was around, though. i don't remember many people saying, "well, what do we expect the other team to do, what choice do they have other than adjust to get the same calls as the flyers?"

in fact, i remember a lot of people, the usual suspects, insisting carcillo was a real tough guy who wouldn't stoop to that level, no way he took a dive. which was complete ********.

Edited April 20, 2012 by aziz

[flyerrod]

@aziz

Carcillo/Avery/Tucker/Letang/and Briere are some of the worst (current and past) offenders ever.....Briere's biggest problem is he does have the rep so he does not get as many calls....

[doom88]

@aziz

The way G gets worked over as often as he does, I disagree that refs protect him. Strongly.

[aziz]

The way G gets worked over as often as he does, I disagree that refs protect him. Strongly.

"protect him"? like, make calls on players working him over more quickly than they would other players? no, i don't think they do. never said i thought they did. i don't think anyone in the league does. "oh, but crosby gets protected, you can't breathe on him without getting called." bullsht. sorry, but flyer homer bullsht. crosby takes gloves to the face, crosschecks to the back, whacks to the legs, on every single shift. he is a specific target out there, and takes abuse non-stop. yeah, penalities get called on people who do stuff to him sometimes, but no more so than anyone else.

taking a quick glance at yahoo's box score for that last game, the one with 12 minor penalties called against philly. none drawn by crosby. out of all that, not a single guy went to the box for doing stuff to crosby. 2 penguins went for things they did to giroux, 1 flyer penalty was drawn by malkin. but none for crosby.

superstars are given more leeway with what THEY do, imo. not a ton, but i think refs are less inclined to take star players off the ice than they are regular grunts. again, protecting the product. giroux can get away with stickwork on another player than, say, simmons. crosby gets away with more in-the-scrum stuff than kunitz. jagr gets away with more intereference/obstruction penalties than anyone in the world. malkin gets away with semi-hidden elbows than, well, anyone in the world.

so, no, not "protected". "special treatment" was the term being discussed.

Edited April 20, 2012 by aziz

[doom88]

I wasn't going neessarily the Crosby route. G gets mauled at the bottom of piles and in corners in some obvious misses. I know targets come with the territory, fair or not, but I think G gets worked harder for fewer calls. It could be as simple as he is a small guy.

I think you might be splitting hairs with protected vs special treatment too.

[aziz]

I think you might be splitting hairs with protected vs special treatment too.

?? they are completely different concepts. protected meaning the refs punish other players for taking shots at the player. special treatment, meaning the refs don't punish them for taking shots at other players. how is that splitting hairs?

[doom88]

?? they are completely different concepts. protected meaning the refs punish other players for taking shots at the player. special treatment, meaning the refs don't punish them for taking shots at other players. how is that splitting hairs?

Usually they go hand in hand.

[Lindbergh31]

ya know.. nhl.com even has it listed that grossmanN was elbowed in the head by Malkin. the longer time goes bye the angrier i'm getting about this hit. it was clear from the very first shift of gm1 that the penguins were targeting grossmanN. i mean... this just seems as intentional as it gets.

malkin is a dirty little bastard. he's very quick with his elbows and he's gotten away with it more than once, but why in the he ll is this not being looked at by the league. shanaban is a joke. the way these playoffs have been handled are a complete joke.

It might end up being the turning point of the series considering Laviolette had no confidence in 3 of the defensemen and relied on Timonen, Carle and Coburn to play a lot of minutes. On a happier note, the Red Wings are down, so hopefully Vancouver and the Pens are next. Hopefully the Flyers finish off the Pens sunday afternoon.

[Vanflyer]

@HagFlyFan 16

"I enjoy reading more than I post, so I'd like to know what some of you guys/gals think would have happened if Hossa was able to duck under Torri and had Torri possibly fly into the boards and been badly injured? Who's at fault?"

I am goint to assume this is not a tongue in cheek post.

My response is that the player that is attempting the hit will always be at fault. That the opposition can "duck" the hit is not his fault and has no bearing on the fact that the agressor missed the hit.